Lawyers seek division of Delhi into nine metropolitan areas

Dwarka Court Bar Association (DCWA), in a public interest litigation petition to the high court, said Delhi, which has already been divided into nine civil district courts, has not been divided into nine metropolitan areas for dealing with criminal cases.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw decided to hear the matter on June 1.

"Issue an appropriate writ/order directing the Government of the NCT of Delhi for issuing a notification for bifurcation of Metropolitan Area of Delhi into nine separate Metropolitan Areas ...," the PIL filed by DCWA leaders, Avnish Rana, P S Singh and Sunil Sehrawat, said.

The Delhi government, in 2000, had created nine separate civil districts in Delhi, the petition said, adding that so far as the criminal courts are concerned, this decision is yet to be implemented.

"That it may not be out of place to state that despite the directions of the Supreme Court ...To carry out necessary amendments in the statutes in a time bound manner for the purpose of the creation of the separate sessions divisions in Delhi as provided in the judgement, it took more than 11 years to make the necessary amendments in Section 8 of the CrPC for enabling bifurcation of the Metropolitan Area of Delhi into nine separate Metropolitan Areas and the consequent creation of nine separate Sessions Divisions in Delhi," it said.

The government, which has amended the CrPC for creating nine separate districts for criminal cases, has failed to issue a notification on the issue.